Undergarment



W. H URD UNDERGARMENT Sept. 17, 1940.

Filed Jan. 5l, 1939 WITNESSES Patented Sept. 17, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UNDERGARMIENT i ApplicationJanuary 31, 1939, Serial No. 253,817

2 Claims.

This invention relates to undergarments Aand particularly to union undergarments for men and boys, an object being to provide a well-fitting Woolen undergarment which will not appreciably v' sag or get out of shape at the .crotch portion.

Another object of the invention is to provide a union undergarment having a reinforcing member at the .crotch arranged on the sides and top.

A further object of the invention is to provide a Woolen undergarment for men and boys wherein the crotch is reinforced by a knit textile fabric structure of a material less permanently deformable than wool formed substantially U-shaped and stitched in place so as to extend across the top part of the crotch of the garment and then downwardly between the legs.

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a figure with a garment embodying the invention fitted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the central Dart of the garment shown in Fig. 1, illustrating more especially the position of the reinforcing member;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front view of the crotch member shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating the fact that the wales of the fabric run longitudinally of the garment;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View through Fig. 3 on the line 4 4.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals, l indicates the undergarment as a whole, which is provided with a body 2, arm mem# bers 3 and 4, and leg members 5 and 6 merging into the body 2. The fabric is so arranged in the garment that the wales of the body 2 and the legs 5 and 6 extend vertically when the person wearing the garment is standing upright. 40 In knit garments made of wool of this kind the crotch portion, regardless of the general construction thereof, becomes moist from perspiration and, consequently, quite often sags and gets out of shape. The crotch portion, as is well known, must yield more or less as the person walks or moves the body. Woolen fabric by its nature is highly permanently deformable when moist. When an appreciable strain or stretch is placed on a piece of woolen fabric when wet a deforming result will be secured as the fabric will stretch to a certain extent but will not return to its former position. Therefore when a Woolen garment is moist at the crotch portion and is brought under considerable tension by being stretched from time to time, it will be permanently deformed and will not move back to its original position. In order to prevent or reduce to a minimum the stretching .of the Vcrotch portion of the garment, a reinforcing member l has been applied, as .shown in the accompanying 5 drawing. 'I'his is' arranged interiorly of the .garment, as illustrated in Fig. 4, and is `held in place by what may be termed .an .outer .seam .B and an inner seam 9. The reinforcing member 'l is substantially U-shaped or horseshoe-shaped, as readily seen from Fig. 2 of the drawing. Where the garment is made of wool of any grade or proportion, the reinforcing member 1 is made of material appreciably less permanently deformable than wool when moist, as' for instance cotton and is a knit textile piece of fabric arranged with the wales substantially parallel to the wales of the body and legs of the garment. This arrangement is very desirable, if not essential, as it provides a proper support for the crotch and yet allows the garment to stretch readily and laterally or horizontally when the person wearing the garment is standing upright. The stretch longitudinally of the garment is very slight. All knit goods stretch slightly longitudinally of the wales but stretch to a greater eX- tent transversely of the wales. For this reason the reinforcing member 'l has been arranged so that the wales of the fabric will be substantially longitudinal of the garment and substantially parallel to the wales of the body of the garment. This allows perfect freedom when stretched laterally and, at the same time, supports the crotch piece or portion from sagging longitudinally. It will be understood, of course, that the garment may be made of wool or less wool content and yet be known as a Woolen garment. Regardless of the amount of wool in the garment, the reinforcing member is preferably of cotton though it could be made of other material less permanently deformable than wool when moist. One hundred per cent (100%) wool, or a high per cent wool, in a garment is very desirable for the sake of warmth, but knit textile Woolen fabric is comparatively weak when moistened by v45 perspiration and, therefore, it is preferable to use the knit textile fabric reinforcing member l in woolen underwear so as to give a desired sup- 'port at the place where the garment` is weakest.

As illustrated in the drawing, particularly Figs. 50 2 and 3, the reinforcing member l extends across the crotch substantially horizontally and then downwardly on each side of the crotch. Thel seam 9 for holding one edge of the reinforcing member in place is' really a continuation of the 55 respective inside leg seams I and Il of the legs and 6. By forming the reinforcing member 1 U-shaped a desired support at the desired place is secured with a minimum amount of fabric so that the double thickness of fabric is at a position in the garment which will not be objectionable but which provides the desired support.

It will be understood that both the front and the rear of the garment may be made in any desired way as well as the crotch member or structure except the reinforcing member 1 which is constructed and positioned as described.

I claim: f

1. A knit woolen undergarment formed with a body, a pair of leg members, and a crotch portion adjacent the point of convergence of the leg members, a knit textile cotton fabric reinforcing member positioned interiorly of the garment, said reinforcing member being substantially U- shaped with the inner edge parallel to and in contact with the front end edge of said crotch portion, a line of stitching for securing .the inner edge of the reinforcing member to the end edge of said crotch portion and to parts of said leg members and a second line of stitching for securing the outer edge of the reinforcing member to parts of said body and said leg members and arranged with the closed end extending circumferentially of the garment above the crotch portion, and the sides thereof arranged to extend downwardly along the inside portion of said leg members.

2. A knit undergarment of wool having the characteristic of being appreciably permanently deformable when moist, said undergarment having a body, a crotch portion and leg members having wales extending substantially :longitudinallyof the garment, a reinforcing` crotch member of textile knit fabric appreciably less deformable than wool when moist formed substantially U-shaped, said reinforcing crotch member being positioned so that the wales thereof will be substantially parallel to the wales of said leg members, the legs of the U-shaped reinforcing crotch member extending downwardly along the inner parts of the leg member of the garment to points appreciably below the center part of said crotch portion and the closed end of the U- shaped reinforcing crotch member at its center extending across said crotch portion above and circumferentially thereof, a seam connecting the inner edge of the U-shaped reinforcing crotch member to the end edge of said crotch portion and a second seam connecting the outer edge to said body and said leg members. f

WILLIAM HURD.. i 

